Apparatus for submarine explorations at great depths



Sept. 27, 1932. J. T. D'ALBAY APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS AT GREAT DEPTHS Filed May 8, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 2?; wsz.

' J. T. D ALEAY 1,879,735

APPARATUS FOR SUBMARINE EXPLORATIONS AT GREAT DEPTHS Filed May 8, 192a z' neets-sneet 2 Patented Sept. 27, 1932 "ram-r Torrie The present invention relates to an apparatus for submarine explorations at great depths. This apparatus comprises a shell which can be immersed at great depths, and

contains the tools for releasing and gripping wrecks, one or more doors for the attendants controlling the operation of these tools, and

devices for operating the shell and for the security of the attendants. This apparatus is mainl characterized by the use of a fluid-tight she in which is maintained a fluid under a pressure variable according to the depth of immersion, of at least one shell of reduced dimensions, devised for resisting external pressures, and within which is maintained air at atmospheric pressure. The shell constituting the quarters for the attendants controlling the operation of tools is arranged in the first shell. 7

A form of construction of an apparatus formainly characterized in that:

The two main shells of the apparatus: low pressure shell and high pressure shell, are 2 internal or external one to the other, the high pressure shell constituting the floating part of the apparatus and has propulsion and balancing'means, as well as means for hearing and movingjdn a resistant bottom, combined with propelling means, such as caterpillars carried by the low pressure shell which contains the attendants; 4 The fluid introduced in the float' she ll has a pressure ap roximately equal t 85 ternal pressure. e fluid used is preferably compressed .air obtained from a source at the surface through one or mere conduits forming a suspension cable forthe apparatus, and from a'reserve supply stored in fluid-tight compartments. The reserve fluid can also be used for ensuring the action of water-ballasts adapted to facilitate the evolutions of the apparatus in combination with. movable balancing bodies.

Internally to the high pressure shell, are arranged all the driving sources and-tho kinematic device's connecting them to the propelling or stabilizing parts, and to the mechanical tools secured on the high presto sure shell externally to the latter.

or grippers of any suitable arrangement, submarine explorations at great depths e ex ' The lighting sources can be distributed onthe high pressure and low pressure shells, the

.means for direct and'indlrect visions being arranged only on the low pressure shell.

.The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example only, forms of construction of improved submarine devices.

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal axis section of a first form of construction.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of a' modification of the quarters for the attendants.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal axial section of a second form of construction.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a detail.

In the form of construction illustrated in Fig. 1, the outer shell 11 can advantageously be constituted from the hull of an old sub marine boat, and the shell serves to sup: port exteriorly thereon tools such as pincers adapted to be driven by electric motors placed under the control of the attendants of the apparatus. These grippersor pincers adapted to gri the wrecks operate in zones lighted by searc lights 12 placed on board the appa- I6 ratus and provided with any suitable means allowing to orientate the, light beams at the desired places.

The outer shell 11 contains at least a second shell 13 containing air at atmospheric pressure'an'd which constitutes the quarters of the operators. The shell '13 is preferabl spherical and its resistance is compu according to the pressures corresponding to the maximum depths for the exploration of which the apparatus *is devised.

The-shell 13 is suitably secured within the shell 11 and is provided with one or more port-lights or apertures 14. provided with. a resistant glass plate for allowing the operato'rs to see and control the operation of the. pincers or other tools. The search-1i hts 12 with orientable beams, allow of lightmg the; bottom below the apparatus. A

The shell 11 can enclose the electric motors 14 actuating the mechanisms operating the tools for gripping. the wrecks, and is providedwith one or more openings having fluidtight closures. One of these openin 15 receives a conduit 16 gvhich can constitute one der pressure With such an arrangement, it,

of the suspension means of the entire appa ratus. Within this conduit 16 pass the conductors feeding current to the various motors of the apparatus, as well as the telephone lines allowing the occupants of the shell 13 -to remain in relationwith the ship or ships The fluid under pressure ma be air, or a liquid such as oil. The'electric motors 14 can be iron-clad with their parts immersed in a liquid such as the oilof transformers.

The control of the motors and of the various mechanisms driving the tools of the apparatus, is eflected by the occupants of the shell 13, through the medium of relays 17 resiliently driven from the interior of the shell 13 by suitable electric circuits.

It is obvious that electric motors can be arranged externally to the shell 11. These motors being iron-clad with their parts immersed in an oil bath, and can be arranged at various points of the mechanisms of the tools for releasing and gripping wrecks, for facilitating the operations, these 0 erations being controlled from the interior-o the shell 13 by electric devices, with interposition of relays, if need be. v

The means of access within the shell 11, on the one hand, and the shell 13, on the other hand, may be those already used on subma rine boats, but reinforced for resisting to the pressures to which they are subjected.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the shell 13 can be constituted by multiple walls 13a, 13b and 130 between whlch are maintained fluids unwill be seen that the walls 13a, 13b, 130 can be sub ected to stresses which are for the greater part compression stresses. The walls can be, from this fact, of reduced thicknesses. The pressures increase in the spaces 18, 19 from the interior of the shell 11 which is at atmospher1c pressure.

The a paratus can be self-propelled, its depth .0 immersionfbeing preferably obtamed by ad ustment of the length of the susension means (conduit 16frame and cales which connect it'to the ships at the A second form of construction is more particularly illustrated inFigs. 3 and 4. This walls, which constitutes the quarters for the operators of the apparatus.

A second high inner pressure shell having thin walls. 4

The power sources, the various mechanisms of the apparatus and their connections.

The low pressure shell 11, which constitutes the quarters for the operators of the aplparatus, has a volume as reduced as possi le Its wall is made for resisting pressures distinctly,higher than those to which it may be subjected. In this shell are grouped all the members for the control from a distance of the power sources and of the devices provided in the apparatus. In the shell 11 are also arranged the apparatus 12 adapted to'maintain a breathable atmosphere and t0 eventually evacuate the water whlch may have entered the said shell. J

The shell 11 may be placed withinthe high pressure shell, as in the first form of construction, or it may be external the same, as in the second form of construction. 4 A high pressure shell l3-m ay of any suitable shape and, for instance, t may constituted by a cylindrical body with hemispherical ends. Thewalls, which may be simple or multiple walls, are relatively thin, since the pressures on both their faces are approximately equal.

The inner pressure is preferably obtained by means of compressed air and can be slightater through the various joints for the pa sage of the connection members between the various mechan sms and devices ofthe apparatus. r p

The shell 13 encloses partially or in totality the machinery; and it comprises one or more tanks 14 having resistant walls and.

containing reserves of compressed air. The various electric motors 13', 13a etc., are also arranged in the shell 13.

The shells 11 and 13 are connected to-' gether by one or more conduits 14' and 15 conductors or of the gas pipe lines, qr optical tubes, ormechanical connections between the inner plant of the shell 13 and the various control means arran d in the shell 11. Access to the shell"13.1s obtained through one or more openings 17 provided with suitable obturators locks '18 being advantageously provided. for entering or goin out of the apparatus as longjas the interna or external pressure allows it. I-

' The connection between the apparatu's and ly higher than the external pressure for avoid- I .ing any entrance of to the shell 11 through i poses (these. ropellers being actuate nava'rse the ships at the surface can be permanent or temporary, according to requirements, and constituted for instance in the following manner: a

One or more comprised air feeding con-' duits 19 are so manufactured that their resistance to 'burstin varies with the depth of immersion. A suspension cable is also provided and preferably constituted by steel wires. The cables feeding the current to the various motors, as well as the telephone lines ensuring the connection between the operators of the shell and the crews of the ships at the surface are preferably arranged within the conduit 19. Y The whole of the various conductors and of the conduit 19 can be enclosed in an insulating. lining 20. It is possible, by a judicious choice of the various sections of the elements of the cable, to obtain, for the whole, a medium' specific weight, approximately equal to theunit and to suppress, from this fact, the tensions arising from the immersed length of cable. It is also possible, for the same purpose, to provide, at suitable intervals, on the length of the cable, balancing The junction of the cable with the shell 13 can be established so as to be dispensed 'with at will for allowing the apparatus to freely move about. For that purpose, a locking bolt 21 can be actuated by an electric motor 3 for breaking the connection.

The accessory devices of the apparatus can be classified in fivegroups:

a The movement devices,

I) The sighting devices,

0 The lighting devices,

(1 The workin devices,

6 The safety evices.

The group a comprises, first of all, all the propelling, steering and stabilizing means appropriate to submarine navigation. These means comprise propellers 22 for propelling purposes and propellers 23 for evolution ,ur-

y motors 13' an 13) and rudders 24. These various parts, combined with the water-ballasts above mentioned, satisfy the requirements of the technics of submarine n'aviga-- tion and do not present any remarkable particularities. These latter means can comprise carryingiwheels, such as 25, mounted, if necessary,"on orientable frames or chassis, and supporting, skids 26, preferably telescopic skids or skids movable in any suitable manner. The propelling means on the bottom are advantageously constituted by caterpillars 27 carried by the shell 11. Y

The group 7) comprises sighting devices. These devices comprlse port lights 28 which allow, either directly, or indirectly, by any suitable optical devices, of observing the explored regions, through the walls of the shell 11;;The fi eld of visiability of these parts is so determined as to allow the observation of the various working apparatus secured on the shell 13. Sighting means can also be provided for allowing to vobserve the gtenor oftheshell13.

The lighting devices of the group c can use light sources operating as excess pressure fluids, and such as 29 (Fig. 3), or electric light sources enclosed in fluid-tight chambers ,in which exist a fixed internal pressure, and such as 30 in Fig. 3.. These latter types of light sources can be combined with optical systems of any suitable arrangement, the glasses of which can advantageously be coloured for limiting the loss of lightin intensity and'for giving a light which Is as similar as ossibie to solar lightr The wor ing devices which constitute the group. J, are variable with the object of the explorations undertaken \They are preferably all supported by the shell 13, the shell 11 being stillreserved as quarters for the crew and for containing the apparatus for control from a distance.

, ..In.the example illustrated, the working devices comprise gripping devices such as grap 'le 31, actuated from the interior of the s ell 13 by various shafts 32.

These various shaftppass through the wall 'of the shell 13 in stufling-boxes 33 which,

considering the small difference between the internal and external pressures, can be devised in a relatively simple manner. An example of advantageous realization ofthese stuffing-boxes is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 4. g

A fluid-tight box 34 is secured on the wall 25 through which passes the shaft 32 and comprises two end housings or chambers 36 for fluid-tight packings such as cup leathers 37, for instance. The box 34, is located between the two chambers 36, and is in communication, through a chamber 38, with a source of lubricant under pressure. It'can also be air can be forced through the conduit 19 fed L by compressors or compressed air reserves, at the surface. The reserve of air under high pressure, contained in the chamber or chambers 14, may also'be caused to intervene.

The buoyancy of the shell'is adjusted by the water-ballasts, according the technics adopted in submarine navigation. Valves 41, ensuring a large outflow, are 3 provided on the shell 13 for al owing the sudden escape of the compressed air'in case of I sudden variation of the external pressure from anycause whatever. p

The de ths which canbe reached with the im rov apparatus as just explained are va- I Q ria 1e and particularly depend on the wall of the shell 11. Thfey depend also on the slack which canbe given to the suspension cableswhen the apparatus operates as a captive apparatus. 15 In case the connection with the ships at the surface is suppressed, the radius of action oi the apparatus depends on its reserves of energy, that is to say on the capacity of the accumulators, and on the importance 'of' the reserves of compressed air. These latter reserves obviously intervene in potential for determining the maximum depth which can be reached. Finally, another factor, the physical resistance of the crew, intervenes in i the duration of the explorations. However,

concerning this point, it is to be noted that the crew work in an' atmosphere the pressure of which is as near as desired to atmospheric pressure. This atmosphere can be easily renewed, considering the reserve of air available in the shell 13.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A submarine device having in combination a shell of sufiicient strength to serve as a supporting base, mechanical operating orengagmg means arranged exteriorly upon. said shell, electric motors in said shell, drive means between said motors and said oper- Q ating or engaging means, a substantially noncorrosive dielectric com ressed-or incompressible fluid filling said s ell, means to maint-ain a substantially equal pressure in said fluid and the exterior water, a' second shell,

- connected to said first shell, a fluid under approximately atmospheric pressure filling said second shell, remote control means in said second shell for controlling sai motors and said operating or engaging meaias, said second shell being of relatively small ensions and having strong walls to permit said second shell to operate with approximately atmospheric pressure therein to relatively enormous depths ofimmersion. l

- In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JACQUES TOURNADOUR J'ALBAY. 

